Taufik Hidayat works hard to beat Daren Liew in first round of Singapore Open Super Series
Malaysia’s Daren Liew forced Indonesia’s Taufik Hidayat to dig deep into his reserves to secure victory in the Men’s Singles first round of the Singapore Open Super Series 2011, at Singapore City, on June 15, 2011.
Taufik, who has clinched the Singapore Open title on two occasions, worked really hard to beat the spirited Malaysian who narrowly missed a big chance to get a fascinating victory against one of the most celebrated players in badminton.
The contest was a 65-minute classic battle where Daren was ahead of the Indonesian in the whole match before losing with a tight margin. The final score of the match was 22-24, 21-12 and 21-18 score. Taufik will be up against Wang Zhengming of China in the Men’s Singles second round.
While talking about his performance in the third set of the match against the Indonesian, Daren said, “I was leading in the rubber game and I should have won it. I played one of my best games but lost out on experience against Taufik.”
He further added, “I should have been more calm but I was too eager to win and it cost me the game.”
Daren is quite optimistic to win against Taufik if he finds a chance to play against him in the upcoming event of the Indonesia Open Premier Super Series 2011. The Malaysian will play against Taufik in the Men’s Singles first round of the Indonesia Open, if he crosses the hurdles in the qualifying round of the event.
While talking about the performance of the Malaysian, Singles coach, Rashid Sidek commented, “Daren played well but he did some costly mistakes at the crucial stage. It allowed Taufik to find his momentum again. The only consolation is that Daren showed some improvement in his game.”
The World Number 64 spot holder, Daren, vows to become the second best shuttler of Malaysia in the Men’s Singles category, as Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei is the leader not only in the country but also in the world of badminton.
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